FILE PHOTO: EMTs go out with a patient at Hialeah Hospital where patients with coronavirus disease (COVID-19) are treated, in Hialeah, Florida, USA, July 29, 2020. REUTERS / Marco Bello
(Reuters) – Coronavirus deaths in the United States rose by nearly 25,000 in July and cases doubled in at least 18 states during the month, according to a Reuters count, striking a blow to hopes of quickly reopening the economy. .
The United States recorded nearly 1.8 million new cases in July out of a total of 4.5 million infections, an increase of 66% with many states still to report on Friday. Deaths in July rose at least 19% to more than 152,000 in total.
The largest increases occurred in Florida, with more than 300,000 new cases in July, followed by California and Texas with around 250,000 each. Those three states also saw double cases in June.
Cases also doubled in Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, and West Virginia, according to the count.
Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York had the lowest increases, with cases increasing 7% or less.
The United States broke single-day world records in July by reporting more than 77,000 new cases on July 16. During the month, 33 of 50 states had record one-day increases in cases and 19 set records of how many deaths increased in 24 hours, according to a Reuters count.
After a rapid acceleration in cases, the outbreak appears to stabilize in Arizona, Florida, and Texas. Health officials are now concerned that the outbreak has migrated to the Midwest since the summer trips. (Open tmsnrt.rs/2WTOZDR in an external browser for an interactive Reuters chart)
The news that more states may be affected by the virus comes a day after the US gross domestic product collapsed at an annualized rate of 32.9% last quarter, the nation’s worst economic performance since the Great Depression.
Reports by Christine Chan in New York and Lisa Shumaker in Chicago; Edition by Lincoln Feast.
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